The Miami Marlins know how to minimize mistakes on the defensive end, and the infield has put together the best stretch of defensive ball in over a century.
According to STATS LLC, per Patrick Pinak of MLB.com, Miami’s infield hasn’t recorded an error in 26 straight games. The last time they botched a play was way back to May 30. The current error-free stretch is the best in MLB since 1913, per the report.
It’s not just the infield balling out, either. The entire defense has committed just three errors in the month of June. Needless to say, manager Don Mattingly is extremely happy with his unit’s performance of late, especially since it didn’t exactly get off to a hot start.
“The defense has been really good,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “We seemed shaky early, but we really kind of hit our stride. Martin [Prado’s] unbelievable at third. [Adeiny Hechavarria], obviously, he’s been one of those guys on the Gold Glove list the last few years. Derek’s been solid. [Justin Bour] been fine at first. We’ve been a pretty good defensive club, and we thought we would be.”
Not surprisingly, being that baseball players are a superstitious lot, pitcher Jose Hernandez knocked on wood when he was told of the feat and quipped, “Don’t say that again,” per Pinak.
That said, Hernandez lauded the work his infielders have put in to perform at such a high level during games.
“It’s great. You guys probably see it a lot. They come here early. They do early work. When we’re hitting BP they’re catching ground balls.”
Marlins fans surely hope they continue to see this unit continue to shine as the second half of the season creeps closer. Just three games behind the Washington Nationals in the National League East, Miami has a chance to overtake their slumping rival with pitcher Stephen Strasburg on the DL.